Realistically, how long do you plan to keep your 5,1 as your main workstation?

[Mac Gus]

Just curious about others long term plans with their cMP, specifically those of you with the latest iteration, 5,1. Mine is a 2009 that I have updated a the processors in twice. I'm now going through the last significant upgrade of my machine having just put in x5690s and will probably do a PCIe SSD and some other improvements, but it's more or less getting to the point of being "maxed out." As I only need my computer for video editing mostly, I feel like It will be a capable and relevant machine for HD and 4K editing for the next few years, and perhaps longer if I don't experience hardware failures.

I've owned it since it was new in 2009 and don't see a reason to switch to something else just yet. In fact the reason we bought these machines was due to their upgradeablity.

I answered 2-4 years.

 

[chriz_r]

Same situation here, 4K editing, multiple 5,1 systems. Just having USB 3.0 for footage dump and the 8GB graphics cards made it fly. I downloaded some 8K Red raw footage and its manageable. I dont foresee myself shooting 8K or even 6K for the next 5 years so for now my biggest concern is drive speed, so a couple of SSD's in raid0 on a sata controller or an actual PCIe SSD would be my next upgrade and everyone using my machines will be happily doing their jobs and wont be able to complain that the timeline was too laggy. haha

 

[kschendel]

After upgrading the CPU, putting in an SSD and adding memory, mine does exactly what I need and I expect it to be good for at least another 3 years if not more. I might add a PCIe SSD, but so far I'm OK with simply dropping an SSD into one of the existing drive slots. It runs Linux most of the time so I'm not too worried about what Apple might do or not do.

 

[theitsage]

I'm using mine until the logic board dies. Then migrate all parts into another 5,1.

8TB spinning drives are getting affordable. They are getting close to SATA II max speed. I run a pair of HGST Helium 8TB drives and they consistently clock 200MB/s both read and write. Can you imagine the cost of 32TB storage running at 700MB/s or faster on the newer Macs? It's less than $1,000 in the Mac Pro tower.

 

[js2704]

After upgrading the CPU, putting in an SSD and adding memory, mine does exactly what I need and I expect it to be good for at least another 3 years if not more. I might add a PCIe SSD, but so far I'm OK with simply dropping an SSD into one of the existing drive slots. It runs Linux most of the time so I'm not too worried about what Apple might do or not do.

I was kinda disappointed with relative difference between SSD and PCIE - SSD was night and day from HDD but the next step up wasn't really worth it. Kinda wishing I'd spent it on a 1TB SSD for data instead. New graphics card (rx460) was a cheap and useful upgrade.

Part of my issue on getting rid of it is I have a lot of affection for it, to be honest.

 

[ActionableMango]

I typically get a new computer every 3 years, with a CPU/GPU/memory/drive upgrade in middle of that. But the 5,1 was the last Mac Pro, so for the last six years I've been stuck doing the upgrades only.

Certain tasks are definitely CPU limited, so a Windows PC is in my future. I'm not looking forward to cheap sheet metal with sharp edges, rivets everywhere, acres of gaudy plastic, cables running amok, and zillions of different little screws that are all slightly different sizes and thread pitches.

 

[chriz_r]

I was kinda disappointed with relative difference between SSD and PCIE - SSD was night and day from HDD but the next step up wasn't really worth it. Kinda wishing I'd spent it on a 1TB SSD for data instead. New graphics card (rx460) was a cheap and useful upgrade.

PCIe SSD speed is just 'blehhh' to some people but for others who constantly move huge chucks of data (200-500GB folders) on a daily basis, its a life saver.

Most upgrades that I see should be done on a case to case usage basis. So depending on the user, a specific upgrade might not be as mind blowing but let another person use that same machine for their purposes their lives might change forever. My gradma thinks a fast car is just a car all the same and could care less, while bragging so much about her new home phone with such big buttons and bright lcd screen.
[doublepost=1480444618][/doublepost]

I'm not looking forward to cheap sheet metal with sharp edges, rivets, acres of gaudy plastic, cables running amok, and zillions of different little screws that are all slightly different sizes and thread pitches.

But you can have a clear side panel and run miles of LED strips inside, outside, underneath, on the cable, in the fans, under the cpu, ohhh the possibilities!

 

[thornslack]

My next machine will definitely be a PC I build. Trying to hold out for the next process node but Coffeelake might be a little underwhelming. I really don't want to wait until 2020 but well see how things shape up, especially with Zen on the horizon. At this point anything I really want OSX for I can do on my laptop.

 

[pastrychef]

I'm not looking forward to cheap sheet metal with sharp edges, rivets everywhere, acres of gaudy plastic, cables running amok, and zillions of different little screws that are all slightly different sizes and thread pitches.

It truly is unbelievable that even after all these years, no one makes any cases with quality on the level of the Mac Pros.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

Switching to PC and MBP

 

[chriz_r]

It truly is unbelievable that even after all these years, no one makes any cases with quality on the level of the Mac Pros.

Sadly, thats the harsh reality of the industry. What I love about apple is that they do create products and build a market around it, while others just look at the market and build products hoping that it fits in that market to make some profit till next quarter.

 

[tomvos]

I bought mine as a stopgap—it's is a refurbished 2010 system—in summer 2012 just after Apple announced the "new" 2012 Mac Pro. After Apple removed the "new" label from the 2012 system I assumed that a real new Mac Pro would be released soon. Well, turned out it was end of 2013 until they released the nMP.
Being a longtime Apple user, I try to stay away from first generation products—at least for the first year. I never really expected that the nMP would stay for about three years at the position of the newest Mac Pro. I just thought we'd see the updated nMP 7,1 in just a year after the nMP 6,1. Yeah, talking about being wrong … and assuming things would turn out like I expected them to unfold.

So, the cMP 5,1 was intended for about a little bit more than two years of usage and than to be sold again. However the computer really grew on me. It so rock solid, reading about the GPU issues of the nMP makes me cringe. I really would like a newer rock solid system, however there's nothing in sight at the moment.

Basically I don't know how long I'll keep my 5,1 cMP. It all depends on Apple. Unless there is a catastrophic hardware failure, I would not be surprised that I'll sell my cMP the day when Apple announces a new OS which does not longer support the cMP 5,1. Thus I voted 2-4 years.

 

[mcnallym]

Look at Lian Li V1000L. Shades of Mac Pro. They don't make full systems but takes 9 SSD/HDD, Optical Drive Stealthed. Almost Cheese Graterish in looks.

Can take an E-ATX board so Dual Xeon MB no problems.

 

[pastrychef]

Look at Lian Li V1000L. Shades of Mac Pro. They don't make full systems but takes 9 SSD/HDD, Optical Drive Stealthed. Almost Cheese Graterish in looks.

Can take an E-ATX board so Dual Xeon MB no problems.

I've seen that case before... I can't pinpoint what it is exactly, but something about it makes me feel it's ugly... Maybe it's the wheels, maybe it's the lack of the handles/feet...

 

[thornslack]

Lian li makes some nice stuff. Big fan of the InWin 909 also. I happen to have 7 side doors from recycled cMPs that I'm considering machining into a custom build after watching this insane build thread.

 

[theitsage]

It's sad that Apple is doing away with PCIe chassis. If you commit to the Mac platform, eGPU might be your only solution to upgrade the graphics processing power of a newer Mac.

I'm working with DIY eGPU pioneers (goalque, nando4, and Dschijn) to build a community for DIYers. Check us out at eGPU.io.

 

[Since1987]

I was kinda disappointed with relative difference between SSD and PCIE - SSD was night and day from HDD but the next step up wasn't really worth it.

NOTE: All PCI slots are not the same speed. I made this mistake the first time i tried SSD on a PCI card. Once i realized it and connected it to a 16X pci slot, the SSD was screamin fast.

Sadly, i'm speccing a Dell. I think it's more likely that Apple stops making desktops altogether than they will ever make a 7.1 ( yes, 1987-2017. I've been with them for THREE decades but they are driving me away, they seem hell bent on chasing all Pro users to Windows )

 

[Philocetes]

It truly is unbelievable that even after all these years, no one makes any cases with quality on the level of the Mac Pros.

I was just thinking the same thing. But having said that, when I put together a pc, I buy cases that are on the inexpensive end of the spectrum. If there was a mac pro style pc case for, say, $300, I would probably not get it, though its an intriguing thought... Aren't there kits where one can get an old mac pro and gut it and put atx case parts in it?

 

[Chicane-UK]

I was just thinking the same thing. But having said that, when I put together a pc, I buy cases that are on the inexpensive end of the spectrum. If there was a mac pro style pc case for, say, $300, I would probably not get it, though its an intriguing thought... Aren't there kits where one can get an old mac pro and gut it and put atx case parts in it?

Unfortunately no, it's still a manual process with dremels and the like!

There are some extremely high quality PC cases out there now - things have come a long way. I'm not going to say they necessarily compare exactly to the Mac Pro enclosure, but some of the higher end stuff from NZXT for example has some excellent design considerations. Worth a look.

 

[pastrychef]

I was just thinking the same thing. But having said that, when I put together a pc, I buy cases that are on the inexpensive end of the spectrum. If there was a mac pro style pc case for, say, $300, I would probably not get it, though its an intriguing thought... Aren't there kits where one can get an old mac pro and gut it and put atx case parts in it?

When I built my system, I spent A LOT of time looking for a case. If a nice compact mATX case with Mac Pro-like quality @ $300, I would have gone for it.

In the end, I settled for a small mATX case that had fan placements that kind of mimicked that the the Mac Pro...

The only gripe I had about the Mac Pro case was how huge it was.

There are some HP and Dell cases that I could live with that have levers to allow for easy opening of the side panels. Unfortunately, these features are nowhere to be found on DIY cases...

 

[Mildredop]

What is a 5,1?

 

[pastrychef]

What is a 5,1?

2010 or 2012 Mac Pro

 

[thats all folks]

It truly is unbelievable that even after all these years, no one makes any cases with quality on the level of the Mac Pros.

no one can make a case of that quality, for $100. which is where most cases come in around. if you want quality, Dell and HP workstations have been fairly attractive, clean, tool-less designs for many years. Lian Li, mentioned above has made some acceptably understated, quiet, well laid out cases that don't have windows and fans all over the place, but it looks like most of them are discontinued. face it, cases are for kids. adults buy systems. and to get a case that reasonably holds a dual Xeon system, they are huge, with 3 to 6 external 5 1/4in bays. how many DVD burners does anyone need?

what we get are products designed by, made by, and for the Asian market. lets face it, what Phil pulled out of his 'ass of innovation'™ 3 years ago actually replaced one of the more compact cases (considering what it contained) out there (except for those stupid finger cutting loops).

 

[Mac Gus]

2010 or 2012 Mac Pro

Or for practical purposes, a 2009 that's been upgraded.

 

[rhys216]

I typically get a new computer every 3 years, with a CPU/GPU/memory/drive upgrade in middle of that. But the 5,1 was the last Mac Pro, so for the last six years I've been stuck doing the upgrades only.

Certain tasks are definitely CPU limited, so a Windows PC is in my future. I'm not looking forward to cheap sheet metal with sharp edges, rivets everywhere, acres of gaudy plastic, cables running amok, and zillions of different little screws that are all slightly different sizes and thread pitches.

I went with a umx4 (full atx but still compact) for my hackintosh case. It's not a Mac pro case, but the best thing I could find that would still be in keeping with my other macs.